Internet in Qualitative Research

The internet is a social phenomenon, a tool, and also a field-site for qualitative research. The relationship of the internet to the research project depends largely on how the internet is defined.

The term internet originally described a network of computers that made possible the decentralized transmission of information. In popular use, however, the internet is an ambiguous term referencing or encompassing innumerable technologies, uses, and social spaces. Because these technologies, the capacities for communication, and the types of social interaction made possible by the internet vary so widely, qualitative researchers find it necessary to define the concept more narrowly within individual studies. This is complicated by the fact that the study of the internet cuts across all academic disciplines. There are no central methodological or theoretical guidelines, and research findings are widely distributed and decentralized. As a consequence, qualitative researchers may find it challenging to locate previous studies that might prove to be useful in the design and enactment of their own studies.

Depending on the role the internet plays in the qualitative research project or how it is conceptualized by researchers, different epistemological, logistical, and ethical considerations will come into play. The internet tends to be used or studied in one or more of the following ways:

• The study of any social phenomenon using the internet as a tool for collecting, sorting, storing, and/or analyzing information gathered: This refers to inquiry related to any topic that uses various capacities and interfaces available on the internet to augment or replace traditional qualitative methods of collecting, storing, sorting, and analyzing information. The internet is also associated with the use of data analysis software, albeit inaccurately given that the internet is not strictly necessary to enable the functioning of such analytical tools.
• The study of social phenomena that are mediated by, rely on, or are interwoven with the internet for their composition or function: This refers to inquiry focused on the way in which people use or experience various aspects of the internet or on the cultural formations emerging from or made possible through the internet. Methods drawn from a wide range of disciplines can be adapted to studying internet use or computer-mediated environments.
• The study of the internet or aspects of it as phenomena in themselves: This refers to inquiry focused on the network, technologies, or capacities of the internet. This research scenario is distinguished from the preceding ones because of a greater focus on various features and implications of this globe-spanning network of connectivity rather than on those social phenomena resulting from internet use.

These categorizations of inquiry are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Researchers studying an [Page 455]online community may conceptualize the internet as a tool for collecting information, the field-site, and also as an object of analysis. A researcher exploring the way in which information flows through the network may use the internet as a tool and also consider the social impact of this mapping.

It is important to distinguish between the research scenario, as already categorized, and the characteristics of the internet that will become salient as the purpose of research is identified or unfolds. Depending on the focal point in each scenario, the internet can acquire or display particular characteristics that, in turn, influence the design and enactment of the research project.

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